Birmingham businesses will see a new £60 million data centre open in March next year.

The Data City Exchange data centre is a 10MW (megawatt) modular and scalable facility which promises to use 70 percent less energy than traditional data centres, with the help of free air cooling and the use of renewable energy sources and carbon footprint reduction technologies.

The new data centre has been welcomed by Birmingham City Council. Mark Barrow, strategic director of development at the council, said: “Birmingham is increasingly being seen as one of the digital hubs of the UK and this type of investment will help further raise Birmingham’s profile across the rest of Europe.

"The new data centre will create significant employment opportunities across the city and help support some of the local businesses in the area.”

Milton Keynes will be the site of another new Data City Exchange data centre next year and other sites are being chosen elsewhere in Europe, said the company.

In its "2013 Trends to Watch: Data Centre Technology" report, it says firms will focus more on data centre cost-savings, and more efficient internal IT delivery methods such as virtualisation and software-defined networks (SDNs).

Manufacturing world leaders have received a £30 million boost from the Government to help them become more competitive and safeguard jobs.

Winners included a Birmingham firm which provides specialist paint used for commercial military aeroplanes.

The cash has come from the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative, which is designed to help firms in the supply chain in the automotive, aerospace and chemical sectors.

A total of £30 million has been awarded to 11 projects across the country, including eight in the West Midlands, with another £50 million in investment coming from the private sector.

Firms receiving the cash include Indestructible Paint Ltd in Sparkhill, which will use the money to help it increase its market share in the aerospace sector.

Other winners include automotive components manufacturer ZF Lemforder UK Ltd in Wednesbury in the Black Country, which is expanding its operations, and a new business to be based in Coventry that will produce aluminium low pressure die castings for Jaguar Land Rovers new car models.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: Over half the UKs exports and almost three quarters of our business research and development activity is in manufacturing, so its vital that we create the right conditions to encourage growth in the industry.

The successful applications in Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative Round 1 in the West Midlands represent a strong selection of winning bids that will underscore the areas automotive and aerospace supply chain capabilities.

Birmingham City Council as helping to oversee the scheme, working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Sir Albert Bore, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: Working in this new partnership has been ground-breaking.

We are making use of new legislation which gives local authorities the powers for the first time to operate outside their region at a national and even an international level.

The 11 projects across the country are expected to create or safeguard 2,160 jobs, according to the Government.

Firms from any part of the country could apply, with Birmingham City Council working with the Government to help deliver the project nationally, not just in the West Midlands.

The Birmingham office of accountancy firm Mazars has been "inundated" after revealing it is scouring the Midlands for businesses to buy on behalf of three, large Indian corporations.

The unnamed "cash-rich" companies are eyeing takeovers in the manufacturing, automotive and aerospace sectors.

"We received a staggering response – we expected some good interest but the extent of the response even surprised us," corporate finance partner Nick Johnson said.

"We have been very encouraged and are actively working through the many approaches. While regional manufacturers have a justified reputation for resilience they have often been regarded as somewhat insular.

"The responses we have received are, in some small way, an indication of a more enlightened outlook. Today businesses are much more willing to expand their horizons, accept that competition is global and acknowledge that only the strongest will survive."

Johnson added that Indian businesses are clearly aware the Midlands is the heartland of UK manufacturing.

New jobs as Deutsche Bank shifts work from London to Birmingham
by Cillian OBrien, Birmingham Post, Dec 14 2012

Dozens of specialist banking jobs have been created in Birmingham as part of a global bank’s plans to shift roles away from the capital but keep them in the country.

Deutsche Bank is to recruit 25 sales trading staff in the region – a rare move as front office roles are rarely switched away from London.

The drive is part of a plan to reduce costs, amid a wider trend of ‘nearshoring’ jobs in banking and insurance to regional cities and towns where salaries are 40 per cent lower. This has already seen the German bank’s workforce in Birmingham swell from 30 in 2006 to 1,300 today.

The move comes at the same time as rumours that Deutsche is seeking to relocate from One Brindleyplace to the larger Five Brindleyplace building, which is being refurbished after the departure of BT.

Deutsche’s fixed-income sales traders in Birmingham will work for institutional clients, adding to a few corporate client-facing staff it transferred last year. It is also considering setting up an equity sales team here.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank refused to comment on rumours of a move but said: “This is a way we can service those clients that would otherwise not be covered outside of London.

“We’ll start off with fixed income and there’s talk of expanding that to equities in the future. We may expand that to other asset classes. Birmingham has a very strong talent base with all the centrally located universities.”

Deutsche’s Brindleyplace office is dominated by back-office, operations, and private wealth staff and it is understood the new employees will be acting for smaller accounts that can no longer be serviced out of London efficiently. The sales traders will mainly deal with medium-sized clients, allowing Deutsche’s London team to concentrate on larger accounts.

With fixed income trading moving onto electronic platforms, and client communication increasingly done over the phone or via messaging systems, a sales worker’s location has become less relevant.

Eight of the UK’s 10 largest financial centres have lost thousands of financial and professional services jobs over the past three years, according to reports.

Birmingham is the fourth largest of these centres after London, Manchester and Edinburgh and has lost 0.8 per cent or 400 jobs in these sectors since 2008.

The figures, calculated by finance sector industry body TheCityUK from official statistics, show that while the big centres have shrunk, smaller areas have grown.

These include Wolverhampton which has seen a 15 per cent increase or 900 jobs and Coventry which has grown by 11.3 per cent or 1,100 jobs.

The squeeze on financial companies’ profits is forcing them to look hard at costs and moving jobs to the regions can save 40 per cent on the wage bill and property costs up to half that of London.

But the city has proved a draw for other reasons, such as transport links back to London and its diversity.

“What Birmingham is really good at is the middle of the bank – critical areas such as legal and HR,” said Mark Barrow, strategic director of the city council. “Deutsche Bank’s middle-office operations here are a blueprint for this, while a lot of the processing in the sector is still being done offshore.”

Bankers say a key reason for nearshoring in corporate and investment banking is that London has become too expensive for some support functions, but offshoring such jobs is not always the preferred route as it has often not lived up to expectations.

Other global investment banks including Bank of America (BofA), JPMorgan and Deutsche are planning to outsource 3,000 jobs from London to other UK cities and towns over the next few years, due to increasing operational costs.

Region coveted by one in 10 of investors in UK
by Graeme Brown, Birmingham Post Jan 3 2013

The West Midlands is the destination of choice for one in ten global investors looking to invest in the UK in 2013, according to new research.

A survey of 500 international decision-makers by Ernst & Young found that automotive and energy companies were especially keen to invest in the region in 2013, but that more needs to be done to build a brand for foreign direct investment.

The region is the preferred UK choice for 10 per cent of investors for 2013, behind London and the South East, but ahead of every other UK region.

However the survey reveals that 42 per cent of investors say they lack the knowledge needed to choose a specific location in the UK, suggesting more needs to be done to market regions.

Ernst & Young’s UK Attractiveness Survey earlier this year revealed that there were 58 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the region in 2011 compared to 91 the previous year, but these created 6,738 jobs, almost 3,000 more than 2010.

Sara Fowler, Ernst & Young’s senior partner for the Midlands, said: “The Midlands has some outstanding capabilities such as the Manufacturing Technology Centre which is an unparalleled facility for driving new technologies and innovation but more still needs to be done to raise awareness of the Midlands as a global destination of choice.

“While our skilled manufacturing workforce is a powerful attraction, it is also important that the other sectors where the Midlands excels such as life sciences and shared services are highlighted for continued investment, to help ensure much needed growth and jobs.”

The research showed that nine per cent deemed the North East and East Midlands the most attractive opportunity, while seven per cent said the North West and South West, five per cent said Scotland, four per cent said Wales or Yorkshire and two per cent identified the East of England.

Looking at the UK overall, the analysis of investment attitudes puts Germany as the most popular proposition for major investment in Europe, at 35 per cent, followed by Poland, at 10 per cent, and the UK in third position at eight per cent.

The UK remains Europe’s top destination for foreign direct investment based on figures from last year in terms of actual projects.

A Birmingham company has beaten competition from France, Germany and China to win a lucrative deal to supply designer tableware to London’s newest five-star hotel.

Small Heath firm Heritage Silverware will supply the first Intercontinental Hotel to open in London for 36 years despite competition from across the world for the deal.

Costing £150 million, the five-star hotel has just opened in the heart of Westminster. It is spread across six floors and features 256 rooms including 44 suites and an imposing penthouse.

Some 23,000 pieces of silver and china as well as other complimentary tabletop products were designed and produced in just seven weeks at the Birmingham factory.

Heritage Collection owner Martin McDonagh said the deal vindicated a decision to invest in design and rapid prototype facilities.

He said: “It has proved to be the best decision we ever made as sadly we have seen almost all our fellow manufactures close down or give up manufacturing altogether in the UK, yet we have never been more in demand.

“These high tech facilities and our highly skilled workforce give Heritage Collection the ability to design, and manufacture unique cutlery, glassware and tableware which very few companies in the world can match.”

Heritage were asked to come up with designs that would compliment many of the features of the hotel, like Emmeline’s Restaurant, named after the 19th century British political activist Emmeline Pankhurst.

The company designed and manufactured unique items in silver and also fine bone china including for its afternoon tea service tree-shaped tea stands and bone china with the same delicate leaf designs.

The owners wanted to bring the feel of a British pub to its all day dining bar so Heritage designed and made cutlery with antique finishes, special oyster stands and even produced a range of wood ware for steak and burger dishes.

Hotel manager Scot Turner said: “We chose Heritage Collection as they, from day one, understood our vision and criteria for this opening and won the contract on innovative product, quality and service. We were all very pleased that a British company could rise to the challenge and we certainly feel that we made the right choice in awarding them this contract.”

Heritage was founded in 1976 and is run by Mr McDonagh, his wife, Mireille, and their children, Nathalie and Anthony.

Mr McDonagh added: “We’ve been honoured to manufacture for clients all around the world from the famous Orient Express trains to iconic Hotels such as The Ritz, and The Dorchester as well as Birmingham’s Michelin-starred restaurants.”

This latest opening seals a successful year for the company, during which it has been awarded several other important contracts both around the world and at the Hotel La Tour which opened in Birmingham earlier this year.

Mr McDonagh added “This success underlines the strength of Birmingham still as a great manufacturing base, despite the recession.

“We’re specialist manufacturers of fine silverware, cutlery and china for the world’s best restaurants. We hear so much doom and gloom about the economy; happily its another success story that the people of Birmingham can be proud about.”

Time for the second of our special reports on how the Midlands economy has fared over the last 12 months. The ITV Business Club are entrepreneurs we recruited 12 months ago as a barometre of business in the region.

A company has doubled its profits and we find out what the predictions are for this year. In a nutshell - virtually all of our Business Club members will be taking on more people. Here's our Business Correspondent Mark Gough.
UK

More than 20 global companies are in talks to locate in Birmingham’s enterprise zone which will on Friday launch its bid to rival London as the UK’s international financial centre.

Andy Street, managing director of John Lewis, is also head of Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership which will be officially launched by George Osborne on Friday Photo: Paul Grover

George Osborne will join Lord Heseltine and Andy Street, the boss of John Lewis and head of Birmingham’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), in the city to officially open the zone that has promised to create 40,000 jobs and £2.8bn of extra growth.

Mr Street told The Daily Telegraph that, despite the failures of previous regional development policies, “there is a real chance this time of rebalancing the [British] economy”. He said: “The Government is giving us a real opportunity and Birmingham is trying to seize it with both hands.”

“Development has already started,” he said. “There are current talks going on with at least 20 international companies looking to locate in the new zone.”

Under plans unveiled by Chancellor in the Budget in 2011, Birmingham is able to offer five years of business rate exemptions, worth a total of £250,000, to firms locating to its enterprise zone, an area carved out of the city centre. The rates collected from businesses already in the zone, and the future rates, will go directly to the LEP from April this year.

Birmingham’s LEP has already borrowed against these future earnings, thought to be £5m a year to start with rising to a potentially £70m a year, and is investing £125m on infrastructure in the zone. The metro system will be extended, the run-down Paradise Circus area regenerated, and superfast broadband installed. The zone has special dispensation too offer fast-track planning permission. Meanwhile, Birmingham airport is begin extended to offer easy travel from American and China.

Birmingham has singled-out three sectors to target - advanced manufacturing, creative and digital firms, and financial and professional services. “We’re not starting from scratch, these are Birmingham’s natural strengths,” said Mr Street.

The model was advocated by Lord Heseltine in his report on growth, called “No Stone Unturned”, which urged the Government to give regional cities autonomy over their financial affairs.

Mr Street said the Birmingham launch is a “really good example of the new approach to the regional economies. Rather than just being handed Government money, this is public money being used in partnership with private investment and private businesses.”

However, for the city to properly flourish as an international centre, Mr Street said the Government’s commitment to High-Speed two was “crucial”. “It will put Birmingham at the heart of the transport network, not just for London but Manchester, Leeds, Scotland and in time, the Continent too.”

Australian packaging firm TNA sets up European base in Birmingham
By Enda MullenMar 1 2013

New manufacturing jobs have been created after a global packaging firm announced it was basing its European headquarters in Birmingham.

Australian firm TNA is investing £750,000 in its Bartley Green base, creating 20 jobs, as it becomes its European manufacturing hub.

A new 50,000 sq ft facility at its existing site will make equipment for the food packaging industry, including machines that spray seasoning and oil on snacks including Walkers crisps,.

The company, founded in Sydney in 1982, said the hub would generate £15 million per annum for the local economy, which it aims to double in the next three to five years.

Birmingham was chosen as the company’s European base because of its proximity to customers, reducing lead times.

Tim Moulsdale, general manager of TNA Europe, said: “Through our new production facility in Europe we can now manufacture a large proportion of our products in addition to offering enhanced technical support, sales and related services to our customers.

“We came here because Birmingham is the centre of the world for manufacturing – for an Australian that was quite an appeal.

“In 2000 TNA founder Alf Taylor bought this site with a big plot of land on the back and it’s been sitting here since 2001.

“Our customers are centred around the area, Walkers are in Leicester.

“If you pick up a bag of crisps from the supermarket there’s a 90 per cent chance we supplied equipment to them.”

This is the company’s third manufacturing facility, with other sites in Melbourne and Qingdao, China.

TNA clients include PepsiCo and food processing equipment, like machines for bagging crisps, can range in price from £10,000 to £50,000.

The Bartley Green site also provides a logistical base for TNA’s sales, technical service and project management capabilities in Europe.

The hub will employ around 65 people and create around 20 jobs in manufacturing and administration.

Alf Taylor, founder of TNA, said: “We set up TNA Europe in 1990, our first site overseas since Australia.

“It took us 30 years to turn over our first billion. At the rate TNA is growing we expect the second billion will happen over the next five years.

“This new hub will produce about 35 per cent of TNA capital equipment.

“£15 million per annum into the local economy which will double over the next three to five years.”

TNA managing director Michael Green said creating the European Manufacturing Hub in Birmingham was about being close to its major markets and having the right skill set locally.

“It’s a combination of right place, right time and growth,” he said.

“If we had to decide this five years ago I’m not sure we would have had the same answer.

“A lot of manufacturing will stay in China. A lot of businesses went bust in 08-09 giving us a chance and last year was our best ever year.”

Anybody else see this yesterday, strange it wasn't front page headlines. Birmingham Post reporting yesterday an announcement during Vince Cable and Nick Clegg's visit to the Midlands, that Timlet UK based in Witton are being helped with funding to expand their Titanium factory (already the largest producer in Europe) and create 800 jobs.

There was an also an article about the EZ launch with an interview from George osbourne saying "it's time for Birmingham to challenge London and the South East" stating Birmingham last year secured a 37 per cent rise in investment from outside the UK and added over 72,000 net private jobs. Excellent news for us, it also spoke of The Lord Heseltine proposal and mentioned they are aiming to have some things included in the budget on march 20th announced. Be interesting to see what

Quote:

Business leaders in Warwickshire have said the manufacturing summit lead by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the Heritage Motor Centre underlined the importance of the engineering sector to the region.

Clegg and business secretary Vince Cable officially announced £213m of government and industry investment through the second round of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative to strengthen UK advanced manufacturing supply chains, which is expected to create more than 11,000 jobs and safeguard 5,000 more.

More than £73m has been awarded by the government to 12 national supply chain projects.

A further £140m is to be invested by business. Overall, six of the new projects will be delivered with businesses in the West Midlands.

Birmingham-based international titanium supplier Timet UK is leading one of the winning projects. The 'TIONEER' project will establish a new titanium alloy manufacturing facility and create more than 850 jobs.

"We have put engineering and manufacturing at the very heart of our successful City Deal bid because we believe that it has great growth potential and can really drive forward the economy," said Sir Peter Rigby, chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

"The investment in manufacturing at Aston Martin – a worldwide brand headquartered here in Coventry and Warwickshire – and elsewhere in the supply chain is very welcome news.

"Just the very fact that the government has chosen our area to host this event underlines just how vital the sector is to our economy and that of the UK."

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce who attended the summit, added: "The recognition of this region's manufacturing, engineering and design innovation is certainly very welcome and this investment will benefit this crucial sector.

"As a chamber, we have been banging the drum for this sector for some time and recently announced a partnership with MAS, EEF and UKTI to strengthen the sector across Coventry and Warwickshire.

"It is clear that our message is being heard in Westminster that manufacturing and engineering is key to the future of not just our region, but the whole of the UK economy."

Clegg hailed the "steady progress" being made in tough time by the manufacturing industry.

"Yes, these are tough times but surveys are showing positive signs and jobs are slowly returning," he said.

In an address at the government's annual manufacturing summit at the Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire he added that strong supply chains bring confidence and jobs back to local communities.

"Most importantly they provide the best guarantee for continued investment and long-term success" he told the audience of manufacturing leaders.

"An industry with a strong supply chain is like a tree with deep roots: very hard to dig up and plant somewhere else."

He added: "Here in the historic heart of the automotive industry, I would like to pay tribute to the impressive achievements in the auto sector."

Clegg said more cars had been exported last year than ever before and the UK was now a net exporter of cars for the first time since 1976. "The future of the industry is looking bright," he added.

Clegg and Cable also took a tour of the Warwickshire headquarters of Aston Martin as the car maker began production of its Rapide S model in the UK supported by Regional Growth Fund money.

The third annual manufacturing summit brought together the government and key industry leaders to discuss and debate progress, the upcoming challenges and next steps for the sector.

Birmingham has been named as the new hotbed of business growth, following the analysis of the first 3,000 businesses who have worked with GrowthAccelerator.

The national business advice service, which helps companies to grow, said Birmingham was at the head of a trend of businesses starting and growing outside of London - other hubs included County Durham, Brighton and Hove and Bristol.

Business Services account for the largest number of high growth companies nationally, but there are distinct specialisms cropping up in different geographical regions.

In top spot Birmingham, for example, there is a strong trend for high-growth companies to hail from the software sector, whereas in County Durham food and drink companies are registering significant growth.

Unsurprisingly London registers a higher concentration of media companies, as does Manchester, which has recently become home to the BBC, along with Leeds.

And while ambitious manufacturing companies are located most densely across the north in Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester, there are also a high proportion of businesses in this sector going for growth in Bristol, while Brighton and Hove has emerged as a popular location for ambitious education and design sector businesses.

Simon Littlewood, director of GrowthAccelerator, said the research made clear that the appetite for growth was not limited to specific regions.

"Independent of where they are located, we are seeing a common need among these firms for national and international market connections, with 88% expecting to grow their businesses through new market entry," he added.

"We're excited by the dynamism and aspirations of the businesses we're working with and look forward to supporting many more in the future."

The research also proves that growth is not restricted to start-ups: across the initial 3,000 businesses signed up to GrowthAccelerator, most have been established for between five and 10 years, with the majority of businesses in Birmingham, Westminster, Leeds, Sheffield and Bristol having been established for 10 years or more.

However, in both the London Borough of Camden and County Durham, the majority of businesses going for growth are aged between one and two years old.

so with all this potential good news is it a good chance their could be a few 100m+ towers for proposal or will they fit into the likes of snow hill 3, exchange square, arena central n paradise circus?

We need a passenger transit system..... Growth is still stunted until we get more than just a mile of line extension.

you don't just need a transit system to get growth. We have a very compact city centre so getting people around different areas is not a huge issue at the moment. I don't discount the fact that it is needed but for birmingham, sorting out a good bus network, cycleways and signs will go along way.